Susan's Nutrition Weblog

A spy's among us.

Hey Viveca, I googled you and it brought me to this site.  E mail me so can see how you've been.  bramsey@stx.rr.com

What the hell, Viv!? Somebody is looking for you.  A-woo-woo. He has obviously been deeply affected by the content of my site.

Sugar Smacks of Cancer

i finally found your blog. this is where the party is at.

now susan: i have cable as of last week as you know. and primarily, i watch hbo on demand. but also, i watch the food network. and yesterday, i watched a show, about 4 friends who work in universal studios, who all went on a diet together for the camera. 3 guys and a gal, all in thier 30s.

and the guy said his favorite foods were "pretzels, cotton candy, slushees, and anything that tastes like a slushee."

susan, what do you think of that?? is he an addict? what is going to happen to him?? cancer?

susan, i miss you. why do we live so far apart?

Hey Sarah! I can't even talk about the physical distance between us -- it goes against our "plan". However, I would love to respond to the guy who loves slushees. I think that's a pretty funny comment. Yes, I would say this guy is absolutely a sugar addict. The refined white flour in pretzels is nothing but a sugar once it hits your gut plus the rest of his menu which is nothing but sugar as soon as it exists.

Interesting you would mention cancer. Who knows what will actually happen to that fella. Genetics are a mystery. But cancers do feed off sugar whether it's straight up cotton candy or white flour or alcohol. It's like a growth hormone for tumors. Scary stuff. I think that's why so many cancer patients do well with macrobiotic diets - EXTREMELY low in sugar.

Glad you found the blog again; we missed you. By "we" I mean me and the other three people who check it regularly. Which brings me to the latest factoid: Aaron can't read the blog anymore because China has put a block on all typepad blogs. Blogs are dangerous. Information is dangerous. Must stop information!

Go ahead, Cost-co

I recently visited Costco in Seattle, and they introduced organic brown basmati rice from India. Though I have seen brown rice in Whole Foods (which is California grown by a company called Lundberg), this is the first time I have seen Organic Indian Brown Basmati rice. The price was very good too. I think a 10lb bag sold for $9.99, or $0.99/lb.

http://vegan.typepad.com/weblog/2005/08/being_basmati_b.html

This is great news! Word's out. At larger Whole Foods with a bulk section, you can actually get organic brown basmati rice, not the bagged Lundberg. This is true for smaller co-ops as well. But I don't think you can beat that Cost-co price. I don't know who owns Cost-co, but it couldn't be anywhere as near as evil as Sam's. And everybody knows you can't shop at Sam's because it's owned by Wal-Mart. Right?

The Smack Down (on me)

One tablespoon of butter contains more than 7 grams of saturated fat[1]. The relationship between saturated fat intake and LDL cholesterol is direct and progressive, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)[2]. I can't quite see what recommending butter has to do with discussing "vegan eating" unless it is your way of trying to kill off non-vegans as quickly as possible. In which case, well done! Next time, try pushing red meat, preferably raw.

[1] USDA Nutrient Database, SR18.
[2] 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report

The former comment was posted in response to the following suggestion I made a few months ago to my friend Viveca:

"If you are not vegan, and I know you're not Viv, I would suggest just eating real, organic if possible, butter. Don't even think about eating margarine (full of trans-fats/hydrogenated oils). Ooo. It's a spreadable heart attack.

But for the vegans in the room, I enjoy Earth Balance because it's all veg, no trans-fats. But don't forget about things like oils (I enjoy flax oil on my toast and popcorn) and coconut butter for cooking."

Well, I don't really have a defense for recommending butter. I know the world would be a better place if people didn't eat any animal products. I know that animals who make dairy suffer just as much as animals who are slaughtered for meat. Probably more. But if someone wants to know what is actually worse for her body, hydrogenated oils or butter, the answer is hydrogenated oils. Neither are beneficial, both are bad, but one IS actually worse inside the body. Maybe I should have been more clear that both are BAD BAD BAD.

Would I eat butter before margarine? No. I've got ethical issues with it. However, I honestly believe that the body would rather deal with almost anything over man-made chemicals. And I do believe trans-fats have been shown to be worse than saturated fats for the heart .

Healthiest option: neither.

Thanks for the comment; I like your spunk.

PS- I can't believe someone I don't know (?) reads this blog.